ex-Daimler STLs.

STL 1260-1263 (Total 4) 14STL10

This group of STLs are distinctly odd, in many ways.
Perhaps they should never have been numbered in the STL series at all,
for they had ST wheelbase chassis: 15 ft 6.5in! But to start at the beginning:
Once upon a time LT inherited a number of Daimler chassis, at 15ft 6.5in.
DST 1-3 had standard ST2 bodies, while DST 5 had an inside staircase Dodson body.
In 1934 the chassis from DST 1-3 and 5 were deemed non-standard,
but not the bodies.
They were only a few years old, and were taken off and stored on trestles.

The Daimler chassis were sold. Four new chassis were required.
Obviously (?) the four now ordered, that were used for the Country Area extras would not do:
they were to standard STL wheelbase and frame length. (Or did someone NOT find it obvious???)
So another four were ordered, to the shorter ST wheelbase,
with nearside fuel tanks to suit the ST2 bodies.
(The Dodson body was designed for
an offside fuel tank - but that was just a minor inconvenience.)
They were designated as STLs rather than STs because all the transmission and brakes were to STL standards,
and they had oil engines.

ST2 bodies on shortened STL chassis: STL 1260/1/3.

So DST1-3 became STLs 1260, 1261 and 1263, while just to continue the oddity of the saga,
DST5 became STL 1262. This was not even the delivery order: STL 1262 was the last to emerge,
probably because the body had to be altered to suit the nearside fuel tank!
All received the same code: 14STL10, despite having two distinctly different body styles.

They were set to work at Tottenham (AR),
but later moved to Cricklewood (W)
for route 16.

But that was not the end of the story: in 1944 the real oddity, STL1262,
was wrecked by a flying bomb, but the chassis survived.
It was fitted with a spare ST2 body, with an STL type cab!
Later still, in 1947, the chassis frame was discarded,
but all the running units were fitted to a standard length frame.
This half-new chassis, still STL 1262,
was fitted with a standard roofbox body (with offside fuel tank, of course!).
It survived another 5 years.
STLs 1260, 1261 and 1263, having moved in the meanwhile to Edgware (EW),
lasted until 1949/50.